One thing I had always wanted to do was to go up in a helicopter, so this was my opportunity to embark on the trip of a lifetime by flying over the amazing Kilauea volcano, which has been continuously erupting since 1983 - and in fact erupted the year after we visited!
Juan arranged a trip with Blue-Hawaiian Helicopter tours that took five of us up in the helicopter and lasted about an hour. It took just under two hours to drive to Hilo from the hotel for the trip. The views from the helicopter were incredible; we flew over the top of the volcano and could see the orange glow of the lava inside. We also flew over rainforests and waterfalls. It was obviously quite noisy inside the helicopter, so we had to wear headphones throughout the trip. After the trip, we were able to purchase a pen drive that contained memorable footage of our trip.
We all left the helicopter buzzing after the experience and decided to drive around the Volcano National Park to round our day off nicely. We visited the steam vent area, where rain and ground water seep into the hot volcanic rock and return to the surface of the ground as steam. You can wander around this area and feel the heat from the volcano, but away from the steam it was quite chilly, so jumpers and jackets were required. The landscape changed quite dramatically, too, from vast rain forest to grassy fields – this is due to the tree roots not being able to survive the heat from the steam.
Our final stop in the Volcano National Park was the Kilauea Volcano visitors centre, which was great for viewing the crater – and this was even better after dark when the glow of the volcano was fantastic! The Centre also gives a good overview of the National Park’s historical, cultural and environmental features through photographs and written information. You can also get a range of light refreshments in the Centre. This was a long but enjoyable day that offered a range of unique experiences.
